Location: Bohuslän, Västergötland
Gothenburg is second largest city in Sweden and
also its largest port. It is spread over two provinces Bohuslän and Västergötland.
Gothenburg is the second city in importance and size of Sweden,
after the capital, Stockholm. Located in the province of Västra
Götaland on the west coast of the country, at the mouth of the Göta
älv River in the Kattegat Strait. Is the administrative and
archiepiscopal headquarters of the province.
Its port is the largest among the Nordic countries since it has its
waters thawed throughout the year. Gothenburg is the place of
transit for most of Sweden's exports and imports. Large industries
such as SKF and AB Volvo have their main offices in this city.
Headquarters of two university establishments, it has the largest
university population in Scandinavia. In recent decades, tourism and
cultural events have developed. It was founded and fortified in 1621
by King Gustav II Adolf, after several unsuccessful attempts of
foundation due to the attacks of Danish and Norwegian.
The growth of the city
The Swedish emigrant Olof Bergström, who
worked for the railway company Union Pacific, chose the place to
establish a settlement in 1882, with a station on Union Pacific's
trans-American railway line. He settled on a farm just north of the city
and later made several trips to Sweden to recruit Swedish settlers to
the town. These were linked to the Baptists and Methodists.
Gothenburg received city rights on July 8, 1885 and the first church was
completed in 1886 while the second church was added some years later. In
1890, 350 people lived there and a mill had been built with a capacity
of 75 barrels of flour per day. Another mill was about to be built. A
15-kilometer-long canal had been built from the Platte River, which was
intended to be used for hydropower and irrigation. Several shops had
sprung up in Gothenburg; school and hotel were about to be built.
The Swedes and their descendants
In a company catalog from
1890-1891 for Gothenburg, enterprising Swedes such as the saddler
Anderson SP & Son and F. A. Lundin, the meat merchants Erickson Bros,
the metal goods merchant A. G. Carlson, the confectionery merchant G.
Odencrants, the blacksmith J. G. Swanson and the driver Swan Wicklund
and more are found. Even today, a large part of the city's inhabitants
have Swedish- or German-sounding surnames, as its first inhabitants came
mainly from Sweden and Germany, for example, the city's current mayor is
Larry Franzen. In Gothenburg, people are proud of their Swedish origins,
on Gothenburg Public School's website they have the subheading "Home of
the Swedes!" which is the name of the school's football team.
One
of the city's four park areas is called E. G. West Park and is located
at the corner of 20th Street and Lake Avenue. The park is dedicated to
E. G. West, who came from Sweden to Dawson County in 1882. He became a
significant businessman in the region, trading in timber, timber, coal,
iron and metal goods. E. G. West Park once had a goldfish pond but no
goldfish are there today. However, you can play tennis in a comfortable
environment or entertain the children in the playground.
Tourist
attractions
Gothenburg has streets lined with tree-lined alleys.
There are two stations from the Pony Express from the time people rode
horses in this part of America, a settler museum, and a lake in the
northern part of the city. Volleyball, swimming and rowing by boat are
offered at Lake Helen in the summer. During the winter, tobogganing and
ice skating are popular. Gothenburg also offers horse-drawn carriage
rides at Pony Express Station in Ehmen Park. A few kilometers outside
the city you can visit Swedish Crosses Cemetery, which is a cemetery
with Swedish graves from the 1880s, now a symbolic memorial for
Gothenburg's first inhabitants. Since 1991, the area has been culturally
marked.
Communications
Gothenburg is crossed by the historic
Lincoln Highway, today signposted as the east-west U.S. Route 30, and in
parallel, the transcontinental Interstate 80 passes south of the city
center. Union Pacific operates freight traffic through the city on the
former trans-American railroad's main line, but passenger traffic on
this route has today been discontinued.